View source for How Do We Fix Elections?

Read the article at [http://reason.com/news/show/124549.html]

My reconstruction:

The author of this article, Radley Balko, argues that there are inherent problems with elections and that we should deal with this problem by making elections less important.  His first argument addresses the first part of his conclusion.  He cites examples of the superficiality of the current election process as one kind of problem.  He also argues that the skills needed to win elections are not the same skills you need to manage the government.  In general, he thinks there is "too much at stake" in the election, which he seems to mean that too many resources are flowing through government.

Another set of arguments is directed at the second part of his conclusion -- that we should deal with the problem of elections by making elections less important.  Balko offers an explanation for what has gone wrong in public life.  Using the distinction between "civil society" and "political society" he explains that we have let political society get too big and that has caused many problems, ultimately leading to a system in which politicians have to satisfy too many conflicting interests.  As a libertarian, Balko believes that letting political society (government) get too big has created too many political interests that are not response to individual choice.  For that reason, he recommends making elections less important by shrinking political society.

Dr. Mark Alfino